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President-elect Donald Trump speaks to workers at Carrier air conditioning and heating on December 1, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Even before he officially took office, President-elect Donald Trump flew to Indianapolis in December of 2016 to trumpet a deal he had reached with air conditioning and heating furnace manufacturer Carrier. In return for Trump’s pledge to reduce the corporate tax rate and reduce regulations, as well as $7 million in economic incentives, the company agreed to keep some jobs in the state rather than move them to a plant in Mexico as it had planned.

While Trump bragged that he had saved 1,100 jobs, the truth was just 730 jobs were preserved at the Indianapolis plant. In reality, 550 from Indianapolis were still being moved to Mexico, and all 700 workers at the company’s Huntington plant would still lose their jobs.

The fine print of Trump’s deal has now turned into reality for Carrier’s Indianapolis employees. Roughly 340 workers lost their jobs in July. The last round of layoffs mean 250 workers will clock in in for their final shifts today despite Trump’s pledges.

Duane Oreskovic is one of them. “Tomorrow will be the last time I clock in, at 5:00 p.m.,” he told In These Times. “We’ll get off at 3:30 in the morning, and that’s the last time we’ll clock out.”

It came as a deep shock when he and his coworkers were told they’d be laid off in February. “We were more than surprised,” he said. “We were at awe, we were astonished … It was beyond shock, to tell you the truth.”

When Trump came to the plant and gave his speech, Oreskovic said, everyone thought he was going to save all of their jobs, particularly with Vice President Mike Pence—the former governor of Indiana—by his side. But, Oreskovic figures, Carrier’s plans were already set in stone by the time the politicians got there. “It was avoidable but unavoidable,” he said.

“I would have hoped something would have been done, I mean, for example, someone from Congress would maybe speak up, ‘Hey this is something we should look at Mr. Trump,’” he said. “We were hoping someone would intervene, but apparently it never happened,” he added, scoffing: “Politics.”

He has two job prospects lined up, but neither is likely to pay as well as the job at Carrier. “Financially I’m concerned,” he said. “If I’ve got to settle for a job at three dollars less an hour, three dollars doesn’t sound like a lot, but that is somewhat of a lifestyle change when it’s based on 40 hours or 50 hours a week.”

But perhaps even more wrenching is the prospect of disbanding his close-knit group of coworkers. “We work over 10 hours a day, five or six days a week. We know each other better than our family members,” he said. But after today, they’ll be less likely to regularly ask each other about children or how their weekends went. “I look at this like a divorce. We’re getting ripped apart from one another.”

When asked how he feels about completing his last day, he responded, “Emptiness.”

Frank Staples also feels like a community is being disintegrated by the layoffs. “We spend more time with each other than we do with our own families,” he told In These Times.

He started at Carrier in 2005 but knew his job was in danger when the company announced in February of 2016 it was moving the plant to Monterrey, Mexico. The news was a surprise: He knew that the plant was making money from what he was told in quarterly meetings. “Here we are making a profit for them, and they’re going to leave us and go somewhere else?” he said. “That was just heartbreaking and devastating to a lot of people.”

Even before the election, Staples said, he and the United Steelworkers union had tried reaching out to Pence several times to have him intervene. “He would never meet with us,” he said. He doesn’t think the Trump administration has done a whole lot to help.

“There’s a lot of things that Trump could sign as an executive order, because he has that power, that would keep American workers working. But Trump’s sitting on his ass not doing any of it,” he said. “I would say to Trump, ‘You made a decision and ran on a campaign promise that you were going to help the American worker. Stand up and do it.’”

The news of layoffs in early 2016 fused with personal tragedies to send Staples into an episode of depression. First he got divorced. During the divorce, “I started having issues with wanting to be at work because I was so depressed,” he said. “I already knew our jobs were gone, I was like, ‘To hell with this shit.’”

Then his brother was murdered, he said. He tried to go on medical leave but ended up getting fired. The union that represents Carrier workers, United Steelworkers Local 1999, fought to have him reinstated, but he’s still in limbo—not having been asked to come back in for work yet.

“It’s been scary and nerve-wracking,” he said. “Everybody’s on edge because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“It’s been hell,” he added.

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Bryce Covert, a contributing op-ed writer at the New York Times, has written for The New Republic, The Nation, the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, New York Magazine and Slate, and has appeared on ABC, CBS, MSNBC and NPR. She won a 2016 Exceptional Merit in Media Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Duane Oreskovic STILL believes the racist in chief -- who is actively plundering our taxes -- could give a S** about him. How can anyone continue to crap on their own interests like that? Duane, you know what Trump would say about you losing your job? Nothing. He'd wonder if there was any money in it for him.

Posted by tiddas on 2018-01-17 04:18:27

Thirty percent of the country bought into this snake oil salesman's pitch. I have no sympathy for these people.

Posted by Mike Powers on 2018-01-16 09:34:31

Who would want to have to deal with companies who think that they can move to any country and have access to the country's resources and people while giving nothing back except pain and misery?

Posted by disqus_ZBXJDbYJHe on 2018-01-15 16:18:36

Seems that you're making some assumption that I'm a republican or a conservative, while my beliefs actually lean toward the camp that believes that the dumbest thing you can be is a card carrying member of a party. And, like a lot of people, my beliefs are neither conservative or liberal but what is simply common sense. Sorry, but Reagan did not invent deregulation. Presidents did it before him, and Presidents did it after.Again, what exactly was Bush supposed to do? He allowed companies to bring back money into the country without killing them on taxes. Also, it was Bush who wanted to get into Fannie Mae and Freddi Mac to see what kind of damage had been done. He was blocked and the economy tanked; although, to be honest, the carnage was already done by then. And, it's ironic that you don't like Trump since he does support protective tariffs to safeguard American companies.It was not zero spending. It was zero baseline spending. Under this type of system the departments would have to ask for increases and justify them. I don't know if any other country has even tried it. Who cares? This is America and we have a different population and way of life. Has any country ever been successful increasing their budget 10% a year? Certainly not the United States. We're a trillion in the red every year.If you want credibility, you may not want to cite Michael Moore. This is the same guy who claimed that Canadians live two years longer than Americans. The problem is that he had to leave out murder and car wrecks to reach that statistic. And then there's his claim that he would never own a single share of stock. That was a whopper.Healthcare is a completely different animal with various fleas and mites. The easiest of which to rid would be get employers out of the business of supplying insurance, and have healthcare providers be required to post their price structure. Ain't gonna happen because they own both parties. Just look at the donation list. Same companies show up on both sides.Please show me where I said that companies can do whatever they what and "the public be damn". Oh, wait, you just assumed that because it was easier than actually engaging with someone and learning about them. I think companies, as I think the government , should be required to put all expenses, all p&l's, and all general ledgers on the internet for anyone to see. It is the only way to consistently combat corruption.Obama did not get support for putting all spending on the internet because a bunch of democrats who might have supported it switched to the republican party?! Who were these exactly that said "to hell with that kind of honesty! I'm switching parties!"? He didn't get support because no one in government - with the exception of the very few like Tom Coburn - wants the public to know what they are spending on. Do you think your congressman wants you to know how much he's spending on first class flights? Or that six figure salary he gave to his nephew to be a no show consultant?And by "conservative" business leaders do you mean like Jeff Bezos, whose employees keel over from heat exhaustion in his warehouse?

Posted by Brutatowski on 2018-01-15 15:23:26

Lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas. Anyone who believed what this orange anus was blabbering about during his idiot campaign deserves the lot they drew by voting for him. He has always been a con man and it was plain to see if you wanted to look. But you were so willing to throw blacks, browns, women, gays and every other non-white constituency under the bus of hatred just to save your own job. How'd that work out for ya? No sympathy from me.

"Is there a place for the hopeless sinner, who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?" - Bob Marley

Posted by Tony Vee on 2018-01-15 07:08:41

Bush should have not directed the Department of Commerce not help the American companies to help move the jobs overseas in the first place. in addition, he could have devise laws not letting American companie bring their products and services into the USA under any circumstances because that is what Ross Perot would have done. If he could spend that much time helping American companies, then he could have spend as much time protecting and helping the American workers and putting back all the various government things that Reagan had deregulated.

Not my problem if Bush did not get any help from his own party regarding zero spending which proves that you can't always blame the other party for not backing you up. Has any other country used zero spending successfully?

Yeah and people only found out about corporate shenanigans when former corporate people like Harry Potter finally got a conscience and spilled the beans. Mr. Potter was visiting one of his family members in a poor rural area and saw just how bad the health care of the people had in the area due to a lack of a proper health care system. In one of Michael Moore's films, you had a lady doctor telling Congress how she got a bonus from her HMO bosses every time, she denied medical care to her fellow American citizens. You have John Perkin, author of the book Confessions of an Economic Hitman, who talk about how corporations will overthrow governments if they do not submit to their demands.

The extreme right wing conservatives and Republican Party have been married to their own politics for the last 38 years and even purges their Republican moderates from their ranks so you can't stated that the people on the opposite side don't listen to you. As a matter of fact, the Republican Party have stated that they will not work with any Democratic president and kept their word on it. It is people like you who think that companies can do anything they want and the public be damn.

One reason why Obama didn't get support from his own party was because some of those Democrats switch to the Republican Party because they saw the writing on the wall. Other Democrats were Blue Dog Democrats because they supporting the Republican Party's viewpoints and ideology while being a Democrat in name only. It is the conservatives who will not listen to anyone period and they got the money to put them in power and keep them in power so they don't have to listen to anyone even from their own ranks. You also never see conservatives particularly business leaders listening to what the unions and workers have to say and brush them aside like a horse flicking its tail to keep away the flies.

Posted by disqus_ZBXJDbYJHe on 2018-01-14 17:29:54

What was Bush supposed to do? Sign an executive order? The only thing he could have done was make it more favorable for them to stay, which would have been some sort of breaks on taxes or regulations, and he would have been reamed on that.The tax rate was higher, but there were a lot more things you could write off. A lot more.I'm with you on corporate waste. I've worked in the corporate world and witnessed it firsthand: outrageous salaries, people flying first class on unnecessary boondoggles, money spent on personal interests, such as sports tickets, all the while paying people minimum wage for dangerous and back breaking work. Unfortunately, government is no better. Remember the GSA scandal. They were taking luxury trips to Vegas, Hawaii, you name it. Flying first class, eating in five star restaurants and staying in five star resorts, all on the taxpayers dime. Here's the scary part: the only reason we found out about any of it was because one of the employees got upset that he was left out on one of the trips and started running his mouth. And that was just one department. Take me up on my challenge. Peruse through the waste book for an hour or two. Tell me what you think. Thousands to put crabs on treadmills, hundreds of thousands to replace windows in a welcome center that has been closed for decades and not scheduled to re-open, millions to advertise the dangers of smoking, but billions to subsidize the industry. As far as Bush, he knew what he was talking about when it came to going to a zero baseline on spending. It had the potential to curb the growth. The problem is people like yourself who are married to your politics and will not consider a proposal from someone you do not like. I was not a huge fan of Obama, but when it came to his proposal to put all spending on the internet, I was behind him 1000%. Like Bush, he would have never got support in his own party for it, so he gave up.

Posted by Brutatowski on 2018-01-14 16:39:19

Unless you're on the board of directors I highly doubt that you know when they made their decision. You could be right, but you're simply making an assumption.And this I don't quite get" NO jobs were going to move overseas - check the numbers, something close to 10,000 more jobs have moved in the last year"You think all those jobs moved overseas because Trump became President? What's been the excuse for all the other years that jobs moved overseas?If companies can get cheaper labor, or cheaper supplies, - and in some cases they can get both by packing up shop, or a better deal on taxes or regulations - they're going to move. Could Trump sign an executive order forcing them to stay? Could congress put a bill through? Sure. But would you really want to live in a country where that type of thing goes on?

Posted by Brutatowski on 2018-01-14 16:22:43

what a load of crap - he made promises he had no way of keeping - that is the point - of course it was the company's decision, and it was made before this fat braggart when blowing in there how he was going to save every job for Americans (except those who work for his companies, of course) and NO jobs were going to move overseas - check the numbers, something close to 10,000 more jobs have moved in the last year

Posted by George Jasper on 2018-01-14 10:20:55

these people should all come to Tennessee - I will make sure every one of them gets a 6 figure job with great benefits, a brand new home, a hot car and their own restaurant! just elect me president - I will get this all done and reduce their taxes to almost nothing! just elect me! I am the greatest human being to ever live and all you have to do is elect me so I can prove all this.

Posted by George Jasper on 2018-01-14 10:19:02

They don't realize the loss of social benefits to them (whether it's welfare, community safety, or increased demand from higher wages) more than offsets any gains from lower taxes. The tax plan is literally a giant middle finger to anyone who earns the majority of their income through salary or wages rather than investment.

Posted by Gagabyte on 2018-01-14 00:38:26

Why would anyone who works for a living vote Republican?

Posted by James Erwin on 2018-01-13 22:07:02

That’s called a Trump University diploma..

Posted by VanishingTiger on 2018-01-13 21:22:22

The Mexican government push for NAFTA and it has completely backfired on them because many companies pack up and went to China when the Mexican workers started asking for higher wages. It still doesn't excuse Bush's actions. Of course, the American government didn't do a thing to stop the jobs from going overseas because they were brought and paid for by Corporate America.

Even if the world was on its buts back in the 50s, we were still able to protect our American industries and have a decent American lifestyle until Reagan came along and deregulated the economy and reduce the trade tariffs. Even back in the 1950s, you did not see the European countries reduce their tariff barriers and protected their industries.

Wrong the tax rate was still a lot higher back then. Government gobbling up the pie? That is a laugh considering how the private industry was gobbling up so much money from all the tax breaks and subsidies that they have been getting for a long time not to mention all the money they got from the government during the Cold War. Health care costs is gobbling up a lot of our GDP and same with the student debt. Why don't you go corporate waste, corporate subsidies and hold down you lunch, dinner, and breakfast.

Bush, Jr., never knew what he was talking about and every time he open his mouth, he never could clearly explain anything to the American public and the corporate media never help him out in presenting his ideas to the American public.

Posted by disqus_ZBXJDbYJHe on 2018-01-13 20:22:39

I'm really, really trying to have sympathy for these people because 1) not all of them voted for Trump and 2) we're supposed to be a single country. When our community suffers, we suffer. When people are forced to go without healthcare, when 1 in 6 children are food insecure, when people are racing to the bottom for wages in desperation, that's supposed to embarrass our sense that America is great.

But these workers sided with a monster. Rather than reaching out to their neighbors for help, they pointed the finger at immigrants and college graduates, they intentionally voted for someone whose plans would inflict harm on people of color, women, and the LGBT community. And in foreign policy, they voted for someone whose trade policies and tax plans will ship even more jobs overseas (yes, this was clear during the election, too) while his diplomacy has irreparably damaged America's standing on the world stage. You can blame the Dems all you want for messaging, but they definitely had the better plan for these people. At some point, you have to recognize that voters have agency and this agency gives them the responsibility to inform themselves.

I'm glad Bernie has enough room in his heart for them because I don't right now.

Posted by Gagabyte on 2018-01-13 19:12:50

That's how the shell game works, folks. You're wondering where your wallet went and how you could have been so stupid & the rest of us are just wondering how you could have been so stupid.

Sorry, Bush certainly had his faults, but companies were sending jobs overseas long before he flipped his mental coin and decided he would rather be President than the baseball commissioner. Mexico has romanced companies toward their side of the border for years, even sending out advertising about how cheap the labor is. Bush allowed companies and individuals to repatriate at one time without getting killed on taxes and brought hundreds of billions back home. Unfortunately, other than Peter Schiff and a couple of others, no one saw how bad the real estate bubble was going to burst.The fifties was a completely different time. The manufacturing capacity of other countries was still on its ass due to the war. We benefited greatly from their misfortune. This led to an economic boon that had not been seen before, or since. The economy was so good that we were able to absorb a bit of higher taxes as well as more expensive labor for unskilled work. You also have to remember that the effective tax rate back then was much lower due to the amount of write offs that individuals and companies could take and it was not as expensive to hire employees, in terms of dollars or percentages. Also the baseline budgeting for the government did not go out of whack until the seventies. This brought us automatic 10% increases. As well as the ability for politicians to claim their opponent was cutting something by 3%, when it was actually going up by 7%. It also meant that the government was forever going to gobble up much of the pie that is private revenue and never have a reason to keep their spending in check. Want some examples, just google wastebook. Read that for about an hour and see if you can keep your lunch down.Bush, to his credit, wanted to go to zero baseline spending, which meant that increases would have to be justified, but even his own party turned their back on him on that one, and the public, for the most part, had no idea what he was talking about.

Posted by Brutatowski on 2018-01-13 08:49:38

money talks

Posted by 6384601 on 2018-01-13 07:00:03

Unless our lawmakers pass laws nothing can be done, they could have done something but did not. For example require business to pay for retraining of laid off workers like what is done in Canada. Also stop allowing tax breaks for the rebuilding process which is done in Texas. The people in Mexico were told that US companies would build a growing middle class which it has not done. In China it did and the reason is that there was less US business influence on the process. Require the hiring of US vets, citizens of Mexico who served in the US Armed Forces and they are looking for employment. Have we done anything about the drug companies who jacked up prices on meds or what happened WHEN BANKS BROKE THE LAW WHEN THEY WENT AFTER ACTIVE DUTY TROOPS WHO WERE FIGHTING OVERSEAS. Why is it that US workers feel better working for non US owned companies. Hiring H Visa workers and then firing the US workers who trained them. Unless Congress passes laws with real bite he has no power to do anything in this area. Any US company in China can make more profit making a product for the people of China, there is a problem with that. Our country is the largest exporter of jobs. Under NAFTA the borders were to be open. Unless lawmakers back him he can do nothing more.

Posted by 6384601 on 2018-01-13 06:57:36

Brut- That was nothing but a grandstand play on trump's part. Iell the people what they want to hear and move on. We progressives got played by Obama with Hope and Change.

Posted by boldgandydancer on 2018-01-13 03:10:19

Yeah and Bush, Jr. directed the Department of Commerce to help companie with the paperwork so they can send the jobs overseas.

"Our country needs to make itself more attractive to companies for them to come here and that would mean examining every regulation, fee, and our tax structure."

Our country was doing very well in the 50s and early 60s with high tariff barriers, high tax rates on corporations and wealthy people, excellent government regulations on corporations, strong unions, etc. You didn't see companies go out of business or wealthy people being homeless.

Posted by disqus_ZBXJDbYJHe on 2018-01-12 18:35:31

As heartbreaking as it is that these guys have to lose their jobs, it sounds like Trump did what he could to keep them employed, but, ultimately, it was the company's decision. I am in an industry where several companies are shutting the doors, but wanting to give a President the power of executive order to stop that is simply misguided and dangerous.Contrast that with Barak Obama. He gave billions to green energy companies that he was told were still going to have to close up shop, but he did it anyway. Why? These companies had large investors who were money bundlers for his election and they wanted to be made whole again before they walked away. Our country needs to make itself more attractive to companies for them to come here and that would mean examining every regulation, fee, and our tax structure.

Posted by Brutatowski on 2018-01-12 07:06:16

Sorry you guys. Thats tRump for u

Posted by Yohhon on 2018-01-11 20:33:03

Can't believe trump, not ever.

Posted by Brent Leatherman on 2018-01-11 18:27:36

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